 |
 Past-President Larry Foster invited MHA Members and Friends to: |
|
The Conference Theme Was, "Varieties of
Mormon Experience in a Pluralistic World"
Many thanks to all who shared in the program and attendees! |
| |
Past-President Larry Foster invited MHA Members and Friends to: |
|
The Conference Theme Was, "Varieties of
Mormon Experience in a Pluralistic World"
Many thanks to all who shared in the program and attendees! |
Past-president Larry Foster was pleased to invite the Mormon History community and friends to Kirtland, Ohio, where attendees saw the exciting changes in the Kirtland Flats.
Kirtland Temple continues to stand prominently in its place on the brow of the hill overlooking
the placid Chagrin River and Kirtland Flats. MHA visitors found the Temple in beautiful
condition. The passage of time and ever increasing traffic on Chillicothe Road has been taking a
toll on the stately House of the Lord. This prompted the Community of Christ, owners of the
Kirtland Temple Historic Center, to initiate structural repairs and exterior improvements.
Historical information gleaned through this process may be found in Elwin C. Robison's The
First Mormon Temple: Design, Construction, and Historic Context of the Kirtland Temple.
Several MHA sessions highlighted the Temple. In addition, the opening keynote address and welcome in the lower assembly hall of the
Temple was sounded by Community of Christ President W. Grant McMurray.
MHAers with Kirtland ancestry found the Kirtland Cemetery of interest,
across the street north of the Temple.
Kirtland Historic District and New Smith Interpretive Marker
It is believed several of the Smith family,
as well as many other old time Saints are also buried there in unmarked graves.
Surrounding the Temple are several original homes from the
early Mormon period, including: Joseph Smith Senior, Sidney Rigdon, William Marks.
Other homes in the area include: Warren Parrish, Nathaniel
Milliken, William Miller, Vinson Knight, Orson Hyde; as well as sites for residences
of Hyrum Smith, Parley P. Pratt, Heber C. Kimball, and Brigham Young.
Significant changes were noted down the hill on the Flats. Visitors have been
thrilled by tours of the thoroughly restored Newel K. Whitney Store for more than a decade.
In recent years, tours of this facility began at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints Visitors Center in Whitney's home. Now joining this landmark are several additional
restored and reconstructed facilities. In cooperation with the City of Kirtland, the LDS
Church has rerouted local traffic ways allowing safe access to surrounding church historical
sites. 
Restored Newel K. Whitney Home
New LDS Visitors Center on the Flats
A short one mile drive northeast is the interesting Isaac
Morley property, that served as home for many early converts and where early meetings
were conducted. Also, two miles south of the temple is the Temple Stone Quarry, now
part of beautiful Chapin Forest Reservation, where visitors may enjoy the lush Ohio
terrain.
Adventuresome conference-goers reached out beyond Kirtland to
other church history-related sites. Hiram, thirty-five miles southeast, has the
restored John Johnson home and LDS Church welfare farm, site of Joseph
Smith's 1832 tar and feather experience and the council room where a dozen
of the early revelations were recorded. Several miles further on is Mantua,
where Lorenzo Snow's home is located. Also, Mentor, Oberlin, Painesville, Shaker
Heights, Thompson, and Orange and other historic towns, as well as Cleveland
and its larger metropolis, are all within a short driving distance from Kirtland.
Many of these sites were included in a pre-conference tour, Thursday, 22 May 2003.
Fairport Harbor Light House
In addition to Kirtland tours and plenaries, as usual, additional MHA concurrent sessions
addressed the conference theme: "Varieties of Mormon Experience in a Pluralistic World."
Scholars explored the unity and diversity that characterized the Mormon
movement from its early days in the 1830s to the present. We also looked at the complex ways
in which Mormonism has interacted with other religious groups in the larger world.
Sessions were
be held in an exceptionally attractive main conference facility:
Rennaisance Quail Hollow Resort (in the Kirtland vicinity)
11080
Concord-Hambden Road
Painesville,
Ohio 44077-9557
440-497-1100
800-792-0258
Larry Foster invited Randall Balmer, Professor of American Religion
at Columbia University, to present the 2003 Obert C. and Grace A. Tanner Lecture, an MHA annual highlight. Balmer's theme was:
""Faith in the Religion of their Fathers": Passing Mormonism from One Generation to the Next." Dr. Randall Balmer is the Ann Whitney Olin Professor of American Religion, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York. Balmer is best-known for his lively and insightful exploration of the varieties of evangelical Protestantism in Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory (1993), and Blessed Assurance (1999).
Thanks to all who chose to come home to Kirtland in 2003.